-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- France 's controversial 75 % tax for high earners drove award-winning actor Gerard Depardieu to take Russian citizenship .

Now , French football clubs are going on strike to protest the legislation 's planned implementation next year , claiming it will make them less competitive against European rivals and cause further financial hardship .

The Professional Union of Football Clubs -LRB- UCPF -RRB- announced Thursday that they will boycott all matches in the top two divisions scheduled between November 29-December 2 .

It will be the first such strike in France since 1972 , when players protested about their salaries , and will be the first in a major European league since the start of the 2010-11 Italian season was disrupted .

`` This unprecedented day must be the occasion for the silent majority of French football to express its opposition , '' UCPF president Jean-Pierre Louvel said in a statement Thursday .

The 75 % tax will apply to players who earn more than $ 1 million -LRB- $ 1.38 million -RRB- a year . Under the law 's initial wording the earners themselves would have had to pay it , but after protests Francois Hollande 's Socialist Party government moved the responsibility to their employers .

However , the UCPF claims this is unfair as its clubs are losing money anyway -- racking up a combined deficit of $ 108 million -LRB- $ 149 million -RRB- at the end of the 2011-12 season . Their total debt for the last three season amounts to $ 303 million -LRB- $ 418 million -RRB- .

`` This tax , unfair and discriminatory , is estimated by the professional football industry at $ 44m -LRB- $ 60m -RRB- per year , '' the UCPF said .

`` The economic crisis has not spared these clubs , who have seen their income from ticketing and TV rights decreased for the last three years in a row . ''

The UCPF claims the tax will make French clubs less competitive against European rivals in countries which have lower taxes .

`` In a context of a deregulated European competition where players have the ability to go and play everywhere they want , the French clubs -- if they want to stay competitive -- can not massively decrease their remunerations , '' it said .

`` For similar salaries , a player in France is costing the clubs 33 % more than a player would in Germany , England , Spain or Italy . ''

The UCPF , which says it pays $ 130 million -LRB- $ 179.5 million -RRB- to amateur sports each year as an act of `` solidarity , '' claims the tax will cost jobs in the French football industry -- which employs 25,000 people .

` We wish to open all the stadiums to all the fans , football lovers , those people who make French football on a daily basis , '' Louvel said of the strike .

`` The supporters , amateur players , associations , volunteers , coaches , agents and employees . All of those who will suffer from the consequences of this unfair tax . The social role of football will be impacted by the consequences of this measure . ''

The tax will hit clubs to varying degrees . Big-spending champion Paris Saint-Germain , which has invested more than $ 200 million -LRB- $ 276 million -RRB- in players since being bought by a Qatari consortium in 2011 , may have to pay just under half the clubs ' $ 44 million bill according to reports estimating its salary bills .

Monaco , backed by a Russian billionaire , would next season be exempt as it does not fall under French tax laws -- and the principality club says it will fight the league 's plans to change its status in future .

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French football clubs to go on strike next month for the first time since 1972

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They are protesting next year 's planned introduction of a 75 % tax for high earners

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Clubs say they are already losing money and tax will make them less competitive

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Strike will halt France 's top two divisions between November 29 to December 2